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In Turkish we can call our aunts or uncles without using their names like:

"Aunt! Where are you?"

"Hey, uncle, how is it going?"

Is this appropriate in English?

UPDATE:

Calling without name is not coldness in Turkish, the reason I ask the question is actually I am translating a fiction that I wrote into English which takes place in Turkey.

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    Calling an aunt "Auntie" feels okay to me, or "Aunt" plus her name, but the bare "Aunt" feels strange, as does "Uncle." Grandparents? No problem. "Grandpa" or "Grandma" are fine. But aunt and uncles? Not natural.
    – Robusto
    Jan 6, 2019 at 3:18
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    Unfortunately, there's no diminutive term of endearment for uncle that doesn't sound extremely juvenile. I'm thinking of "Unkee" which would sound strange coming out of the mouth of anyone over three or four years of age.
    – Robusto
    Jan 6, 2019 at 3:50
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    My own aunt and I will often text each other back and forth using aunt and nephew. I have no idea how the exchange started, but it sounds normal at this point. Anything can be said once it's become familiar.
    – Jason Bassford
    Jan 6, 2019 at 15:51
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    I have a friend whose family often called the uncle, just "Uncle". It sounded normal to me, although my family doesn't follow that custom. ... Just "Aunt", though, sounds weird to me. It should be "Auntie", which is quite normal.
    – Lorel C.
    Jan 7, 2019 at 4:43
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    @Robusto - I did have one great-great-uncle who everyone in the family, even adults, called "Unkie," but it was just this one uncle who got that designation. I think that it's fairly common for families to have particular terms of endearment for particular people, often based on what some small child said that the adults all found to be charming.
    – Canadian Yankee
    Jan 7, 2019 at 13:25

2 Answers 2

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Some people do this, and some people do not. It is acceptable or reasonable to do so, although it is more common to use 'relationship + name' or a diminutive such as "Auntie" (although there is no common diminutive for Uncle that I'm aware of).

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Well, it's a bit of a faux-pas to misplace your aunt, but if you did, best to call out the more endearing option "auntie!" It carries a lot better, and doesn't sound as harsh.

Addressing someone by their role alone is sometimes a way of showing coldness, so it is best to include the name, or make your tone clear with a it of pleasant excitement: "hey, auntie!"

(Uncle is naturally avuncular.)

People seem to tend to use the role plus the name, as in "Uncle Alfred, or Auntie Peg."

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  • Actually it is not coldness in Turkish, the reason I ask the question is actually I am translating a fiction that I wrote into English which takes place in Turkey. The characters are Turks. So I need some some answers like the comments made on my Question. I will write this information into the question.
    – AhmetRasitBekar
    Jan 7, 2019 at 11:14

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